Flight Services Operators Can Do More to Save Fuel

After pulsing several airlines over the last few months, fuel management firm Flight Sciences International came to the stunning conclusion that air carriers need a better structure and more urgency with their jet fuel decision making, prompting one to wonder whether a focus on general.aviation might yield similar findings.
“Airlines are not as serious as they should be about smart jet fuel management and monitoring, especially when fuel could become the reason they go out of business,” said President Robert Callahan. “The urgency is not there.”
Flight Sciences, a company that only does fuel management for airlines, has been successful at helping airlines reduce fuel expenditures up to 10 percent annually. “If decision-making is not carefully managed from the top down, there is little incentive for managers or front-line airline employees to make well-planned fuel management decisions,” said Callahan. “From flight attendant baggage weight to paint on the side of the plane to fuel buying and planning, airlines need to make sure there is no stone unturned. But not all airlines manage fuel as actively as they should. While all airlines have vice presidents managing revenue, few if any have vice presidents of energy – for both fuel management and energy conservation. There needs to be more expertise within each carrier.”
Flight Sciences advocates forming an Energy or Fuel Division within each airline to better understand and actively manage fuel decisions, as well as to give power to those who can impact the bottom line quickly.
The company has worked with British Airways, Austrian Airlines, TAP Air Portugal, Air Transat and others to create Fuel Management Committees and other structures that manage fuel decisions actively, rather than passively.